


Set Fire to the Sky

by lionessvalenti



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, F/F, The Magicians Femslash Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 12:16:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14520375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: When Alice tried to get into Brakebills, she was cast out, so she found magicians who could help her. She found Marina.





	Set Fire to the Sky

Alice wasn't invited to take the Brakebills entrance exam. When she walked in, her mother's alumni key in hand, she was cast back out by the Dean, and even she could see the guilt in his eyes. Guilt over what happened to Charlie. Guilt for sending her away. He was guilty, but he wasn't going to do anything about it. Instead of trying, he made the wards stronger. Alice couldn't break them.

What Alice meant was, she couldn't break them alone.

It wasn't difficult to find the safe house, the same way it hadn't been difficult to find Brakebills. Magic left a mark. Alice was very good at finding the mark.

Marina had a cool gaze that took Alice in, calculating the person she was: her backpack, her high-collared dress, her bare legs, and her glasses. Marina laughed. "Okay, girl scout. Show us what you've got."

Alice stood up a little straighter. "I'm not taking your test. You'll have me or you won't."

"If you can't do magic, what's the point of having you around?" Marina's arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was pulled back in a braid, and just looking at her, Alice had the strangest sensation of pulling apart each of those sections of hair. The softness under her fingers, the scent of coconut and jasmine mixed with cigarette smoke. She shook her head, as if she could shake away the brief fantasy.

"I can _do_ magic. I'm not here to prove myself to you. I need to get into Brakebills. I tried, and they reset the wards."

Alice had said the magic words. Marina lifted her chain, giving Alice one more appraising look. "It's going to take some time. We can't just storm the castle, especially if they upgraded security because of your recklessness."

"I have time."

"Then, you're in."

"Wait," said a pale guy with blond hair, who stood at Marina's side, like he was her right hand man, but even Alice knew he wasn't. "She's just _in_? She didn't even show us a spell."

Marina frowned at him. "If any of you schmucks had power like hers, you wouldn't have needed to show me a spell, either." Her frown turned into a pitying smirk. "But you don't, Pete. Have that kind of power. Maybe you should try a little harder."

Alice smiled to herself, but she had a feeling it wasn't her power Marina was after.

* * *

Alice didn't have a place to live in the city, but if her parents had taught her anything it was that money was easy to come by, and credit reports could be rewritten. Business magic for the lazy and elite.

She found a one bedroom in Brooklyn, small, but with a Manhattan view. She stayed holed up in her little apartment with her books, and the internet, and hoped to be left alone. Alice rarely got what she wanted.

A month later, Marina showed up at her door. "You're not coming to class."

"I didn't realize it was school," Alice replied coolly, as Marina pushed passed her and into the apartment. By the time Alice turned around, Marina was already settled in Alice's favorite chair, a squishy thing with worn velvet upholstery where she could curl up around a thick tome. 

"If you want to be in, you have to make an effort. Do you think I don't who you are, Alice Quinn? Do you think I just said yes to you because you've got great legs? I know who your family is, I'm not stupid. But did I ask any questions? Did I pry? No. You know why?"

Alice bit the inside of her cheek. She shook her head.

Marina pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her jacket pocket and selected one carefully. "Because I don't care. Do you know why I let you into our safe house without even testing you?"

"Because you know about my family," Alice replied. "Don't smoke in here."

With a roll of her eyes and a snap of her finger, Marina lit her cigarette. "I don't give a shit about your family. You and me? Our goals line up. You said so yourself, you can't get into Brakebills alone. Neither can I."

Alice raised her hands, and with a few twists of her fingers, the entire cigarette turned to ash in Marina's hand. "I said don't smoke in here."

Marina smiled as she dusted the ash from her pant leg. "I'm sure you know what cooperative magic is."

"Of course I do."

"If you want to get into Brakebills, you're going to have to cooperate." Marina got to her feet and moved directly into Alice's space. Her fingers, still scented, bright and ionized, from the magic of her flame, brushed against Alice's cheek. Alice caught a whiff of jasmine. "I expect you at the bodega bright and early tomorrow morning. You hear me, kitten? You show up. You do the work. You get what you want."

Alice turned her face toward Marina, which meant turning her cheek into Marina's warm hands, still raised at eye-level. "I'll be there."

* * *

Alice didn't hate working with the hedges. She wanted to be better than them, and academically, she was, but she wanted to feel superior to them. She had to let it go. She was one of them. As long as Brakebills didn't want her, she was a hedge.

She opted out of the tattoos.

"Do you think I need a status symbol?" Alice asked. "I can stand on my own accomplishments."

Marina's fingers ghosted over the bare plane of Alice's forearm. "I suppose they wouldn't go with whatever look you're trying to achieve here."

The magic, however, was outstanding. Alice knew she was top of the class before she even walked in the door, and working with the hedges, it was validating. She didn't hate it, knowing she could unseat Marina in short work, if she wanted to. She liked that Marina knew it, too.

Maybe that was why Marina made her move.

"I hate it when you bring me homework," Alice said when she opened the door to her apartment to find Marina. It was nearly midnight, and she could smell the alcohol on Marina's breath, but she didn't _seem_ drunk. She was dressed in black, as she usually was, with a leather harness she wore for fashion, though Alice imagined she found function for it. Her hair was pulled back in a braid, like the day they met.

"There's this spell I want to try," Marina said, not responding to Alice's way of greeting. "Cooperative magic. We're going to set fire to the sky."

"I'm assuming that's a metaphor," Alice replied as she shut the door and locked it. She felt to make sure her wards were in good order. If they were going to do magic, she needed to be sure no one else was going to stop them.

"You think so?" Marina asked, stumbling as she moved for the couch.

Alice smiled, a little half smile, barely a smile, but a concession of her relief at seeing Marina's weakness on display before her. "You _are_ drunk," she said, reaching to touch Marina at the small of her back, to support her, to maneuver her on the couch.

Marina pulled away from her, and ended up falling back onto the couch anyway. "I'm not drunk. I've been drinking, but I'm not drunk."

"Then let's do some magic," Alice said, settling down next to Marina. "What did you have in mind?"

Marina leaned toward Alice, her body overwhelming Alice's sense of personal space, Marina's hand on the inside of Alice's thigh. Her fingers were like little dots of burning ember on Alice's skin. "I could have made an enemy of you, like that." With her other hand, Marina snapped her fingers. "But I kept you in my house. I knew we were stronger with you than without you, but we don't need you. I don't need you."

Alice could have pulled away, but she didn't. "Why are you here?"

"We're ready to take on Brakebills, so you and I can get what we need." There was no slur in Marina's voice, and Alice wasn't sure what had been an affectation or not. Her hand slid further up Alice's thigh, fingers pressing against the soft cotton of her underwear. "I want to make sure we're on the same page. That you're ready. It sure feels like you are."

"You don't have to do this, you know," Alice said. She rested a hand on Marina's wrist. "I don't want your house or the power. I just want to find out what happened to my brother. Once I do, I'll be out of your hair forever."

Marina kissed her, a rough jagged kiss, her teeth biting into Alice's lips. Alice groaned, pushing herself against Marina's hand before she even realized she was doing it. Marina's fingers slipped under the fabric, and Alice moaned.

"I like you in my hair," Marina mumbled. She kissed Alice's jaw. "And we're going to need be sure our bond is as tight as possible before we start."

Alice raised a hand to the back of Marina's head, her fingers twisting into Marina's thick braid. Her hair was soft, and Alice could smell the jasmine and ash. She pulled back only long enough to catch her breath, and she grinned at Marina. She rarely grinned, and she didn't miss the delight in Marina's eye at the sight of her bared teeth. "Then let's set fire to the sky."


End file.
